Amalgamator



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. J.'STORER & F. MARTIN. AMALGAMATOR.

(No Model.)

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

J. J. STORER 8v F. MARTIN. AMALGAMATOR.

No. 573,834. Patented Dec. 22,1896.

UNITED `STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB J. STORER AND FRANK MARTIN, OF HELENA, MONTANA, ASSIGNORS TO THEUNITED MILL AND FURNACE COMPANY, OF MONTANA.

AMALGAMATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,834, dated December22, 18961. Application filed September 12, 1893. Renewed April 11, 1896.Serial No. 587,232. (No model.)

To u/ZZ whom 'llt man concern.;

and Clarke, State of Montana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Amalgamators, of which the following isa full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the numerals of reference marked thereon. The object of ourinvention is to provide an improved amalgamator for treating gold andsilver ores.

The invention consists of the combination, with a suitable tank ortrough lined with amalgamated copper plates and provided with alongitudinal groove in its bottom terminating in a Well and a revolubleshaft xed in the longitudinal axis of said tank and provided withangularly and radially adjustable blades or screw-threads, preferably ofamalgamated copper, of a series of amalgamated copper arresting-platescoated with quicksilver, vertically adjustable and removable,

` suspended transversely within said tank and reaching from above thewater-line nearly to the bottom of the tank, and it also embraces aninclosed amalgamated apron-plate connected with the discharge end ofsaid tank and a mercury-trap set at the lower end of said apron-plate toreceive the discharge therefrom, and of certain other novel devices, allof which will be hereinafter described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thespecification, in which similar numerals of reference indi- Y catecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure lis a sectional side elevation of the amalgamating-tank an dattachments. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of same on line X X', Fig. l.Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the tank. Fig. 4 is a plan view on line YY, Fig. l, with the arresting-plates removed. Fig. 5 is a reducedelevation of an arresting-plate. Fig. G is an end elevation of the same.

In the drawings, l represents the tank, having an inside rounded bottom2 and upwardsloping sides 3, and having in its bottom a longitudinalgroove i for the reception of th-e excess of Quicksilver, terminating atone end in a well 5, from which the amalgam and fouled Quicksilver,should there be any, may T Be it known that we, JACOB J. STORER andFRANK MARTIN, of Helena, county of Lewis be removed when desired by asiphon or other suitable device. The tank is lined throughout withamalgamated copper plate, as indicated at 6. The shaft 7, which hasbearings designed to be water-tight in each end of the tank, has itsouter end supported by standards 8, and is designed to be revolved ineither direction by one or the other of its 6o pulleys 0. This shaft,within the tank,may

be provided with a spiral screw-thread of sufiicient width or depth toreach within an inch or thereabout of the bottom of the tank and aboutthe same distance above the Water-line, as indicated at l0, butpreferably it is provided with a series of blades ll, arranged in adouble spiral and fixed in position by having their Shanks passedthrough the shaft and `held by nuts l2, as best shown in Fig. l. These7o blades may be made of any material sufficiently strong to keep thepulp in agitation, but preferably are made of flat plates of amalgamatedcopper, which will not only keep the pulp in agitation, but will alsoserve to catch all the iioating particles of gold with which they maymake contact. They may be adjustably attached to the shaft in other Ways`than herein shown and described, but we preferthis method, as itenables the operator to 8o more readily remove, scrape,and replace themwhen cleaning up. They may be set and firmly held with their faces atany desired angles to the shaft-axis and radially adjusted toward andfrom the shaft by means of the nuts l2, and they may be made of variousshapes, but We prefer them flat, as indicated.

In Working a very slimy ore it is found best to radially adjust theblades to reach well above the water, so that they will when 9o inmotion draw the slimes beneath the Water and create deeper vortices,with the effect of forcing them in contact with amalgamated surfaces;and byangular adjust ment of the blades the rate of the movement of theore-pulp from one end to the other of the amalgamator may be regulated,while by turning some of the blades at opposite angles to others agreater agitation of the pulp is effected. f j

In order toassure the arrest and amalgamation of all the particles offloat-gold, to

IOO

presentan increased amalgamating-surface within the limits of the tank,and to cause the pulp to be longer retained and more repeatedly exposedto the amalgamated surfaces, we suspend in the tank a series ofamalgamated copper arresting-plates 13 coated with Quicksilver, thelower half-circular ed ges of which are designed to reach considerablybelow the water-line and between the screwblades, while their sides orlegs extend below the screw-shaft at the sides thereof, and their upperedges are secured in strips 14 of wood or metal, as indicated in Figs. 1and 2,-which stiffen them and prevent their bending under the pressureof the moving water, and by means of which they may be removably clampedor otherwise secured to the upper edges of the tank, as indicated at 15,and be firmly held in position when adjusted. It will be seen that thesearresting-plates are so constructed and arranged that the ore-pulp andwater cannot flow over them and must flow beneath them through theannular spaces formed between them, the screw-shaft, and tank-bottom,and that in this respect-in their construction, their positions, andfunctions-they are entirely unlike the rifies or arresting-plates incommon use.

The discharge end of the tank is provided with a series of narrowhorizontal openings 16 at different levels, through which the water andpulp are designed to be discharged upon the apron-plate 17, which iscovered with amalgamated copper and partially inclosed by side and frontplates 18 and 10, respectively, to prevent the loss of the water andpulp by spattering. These discharge-openings 16 may be closed byeccentric-bars 20, as indicated at 21, Figs. 1 and 3, which bars arejournaled, as shown at 22, on the discharge end of the tank, and theymay be opened by the upward turning of said bars7 as indicated. XVe donot confine ourselves to these special devices for regulating thedischarge of the ore-pulp and water from the tank, as other devicesQuite as serviceable for the purpose may be applied without departingfrom our invention.

The ore-pulp and water discharged from the tank upon the apron-plate 17may contain some particles of iioured Quicksilver and amalgam. Hencethey are made to [low into the mercury-trap 23, which is designed to eX-tend the whole width of the apron-plate and is provided withpartition-plates 24E, under and over which, respectively, the. water andpulp iiow in passing to the waste-sluice 25. In this mercury-trap thefloured Quicksilver and amalgam will sink to the bottom, from whence itmay be easily removed in cleaning up; and water may be made tocontinually flow into the bottom of said trap through pipe 2G to preventthe pulp from settling therein. n In operating this amalgamator theamalgamating-surfaces are first properly prepared7 and a Quantity ofQuicksilver is then put into the groove 4 for the purpose of arrestingand amalgamating the heavier particles of gold that will sink to thebottom. All the openings in the discharge end of the tank are thenclosed and the ore-pulp with water is introduced into the upper or feedend until the water reaches nearly to the tips of the up ward-projecting shaft paddles or blades. Then the shaft is alternatelyrotated in one direction and the other in order to bring all theparticles of the metal in repeated contact with the amalgainated tanklining, screwblades, and arresting-plates. Then the upperdischarge-opening is opened for the escape of water and pulp, and theshaft is kept revolving to cause the tank contents to flow in thatdirection, and a constant feed of orepulp and water into the tank iscontinued until the operation is suspended for the purpose of cleaningup. Then the dischargeopenin gs, from above downward, are successivelyopened to permit the remaining water and pulp to discharge upon theapron-plate, and thence into the mercury-trap, and finally off throughthe waste-sluice 25. After the water and pulp have been discharged fromthe tank the excess of Quicksilver charged with gold is siphoned orotherwise removed from the well 5, and the amalgamated surfaces arecleaned of their adhering coating of amalgam. For this purpose thearrestingplates and shaft-blades can readily be taken out, and the shaftmay be removed, if -necessar f, and after the mercury-trap has beenfreed yfrom pulp by proper flushing its contents of arrested flouredQuicksilver and amalgam are removed.

Though the shaft-blades in combination with the tank-linin g present, ina given space, a much more extended amalgamated surface than is found inany other form of amalgamator of equal capacity, they would not be fullyeffective were it not for the amalgam ated arresting-plates, whichprevent the otherwise uninterrupted iiow of the water and pulp from thefeed end to and out of the discharge end of the tank, and which, each inits turn, impedes the flow of the water and pulp and causes them toswash and eddy against their amalgamated faces and to be forced down inrepeated and frequent contact with the amalgamated shaft-blades and tanksides, so that the tank contents are constantly agitated and forced intorepeated collision with amalgamated surfaces by a combination offorwardand-backward, of right-and-left rotary, upand-down vertical,vertical, and lateral movements from one side to the other, wherebyevery particle of amalgamable gold must be arrested and amalgamated.

Though the extended amalgamated surfaces of the tank-lining andshaft-blades and the Quicksilver in t-he groove will readily catch andretain all of the heavier particles of the metals that are in acondition to be amalgainated and that are deliected against them by thearresting-plates, it is the arresting-plates themselves that, coatedwith Quicksilver, serve IIO ` would be lost.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. Au alnalgamator constructed substantiallyas herein shown and described, consisting of a tank lined withamalgamated plates, a shaft made to revolve inthe longitudinal axisthereof, and carrying amalgainated blades adapted for radial and angularadjustment, preferably arranged in spirals, and a series ofvertically-adjustable, removable, amalgamated, arresting-platesextending above the Water-line and having a space beneath their loweredges for the flow of the Water and ore-pulp, all arranged and operatedsubstantially as set forth.

2. The combination-With an amalgamator consisting of a tank lined withamalgamated plates and having a longitudinal groove and Well in itsbottom and a series of adjustable discharge openings at one end,provided With a re voluble shaft carrying amalgamated blades, and with aseries of vertically-adjustable amalgamated arresting-plates, of aninclosed amalgamated apron-plate fixed at the discharge end of the tank,and of a mercurytrap set to receive the material discharged from thesaid apron-plate, all arranged and operated as herein shown anddescribed.

The combination With an amalgamatingtank constructed substantially asherein shown` and described, of a revoluble shaft fixed in thelongitudinal axis thereof, and provided with angularly and radiallyadjustable amalgamated copper blades, as set forth. In testimony that Weclaim the foregoing We have hereunto set our hands, in the presence oftwo Witnesses, this 8th day of May, 1803.

JACOB J; STORER. FRANK MARTIN. Witnesses: 4

JAMES F. CHESTER, FINLAY' MCRAE.

